Chennai: Taking the lead on the issue of cybersecurity, the Government of Andhra Pradesh and Mastercard today held the Andhra Pradesh Cybersecurity Summit at Fintech Valley, Vizag. The summit provided an unparalleled platform fortop cybersecurity expertsto share strategies and solutions to combat the growing cyber threats in India and globally. This summit is a part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Government of Andhra Pradesh and Mastercard to implement the best practices on cybersecurity.

The summit convenedmore than 450 delegates, representing regulatory and law enforcement agencies, think-tanks, start-ups, consultancies, academia, and technology & cybersecurity companies. Mr J. A. Chowdary, Special Chief Secretary & IT Advisor to the Chief Minister, Andhra Pradesh; and Mr Ravi Aurora, Executive Director, Community Relations and Public Policy, Mastercard kicked off the summit with welcome remarks. Mr. Nara Lokesh, Minister for IT, Andhra Pradesh delivered the opening keynote address, highlighting the state government’s vision to create a safe and secure cyber ecosystem. He also felicitated thewinners of Cyberthon, India’s largest cybersecurity hackathon organized by the Government of Andhra Pradesh from April 4 to April 25.

While in-depth discussion on national impact of cybersecurity were led by Mr. Sanjay Bahl, Director-General, CERT-In,Rebecca Ledingham, Vice President, Security Decisioning and Products, Mastercard addeda global perspective on emergent cyber threats that impact individuals, organisations and nations. During a panel discussion on smart cities and IoT, Ms. Rama Vedashree, CEO, Data Security Council of India stressed on the significance of big data, advanced analytics and other innovations to ensure safety and security of smart cities. The attendees also had the opportunity to gain practical understanding through applied cybersecurity solution demonstrations.
(Please refer to the annexure for detailed agenda of the summit).

Speaking at the summit,Mr. Nara Lokesh, Minister of Information and Technology, Andhra Pradesh,said,“Andhra Pradesh has been a pioneer in implementing digital solutions for delivery of public services and creating a global fintech ecosystem. Therefore, cybersecurity for individuals and businesses is a high priority for the Government of Andhra Pradesh. We believe that the Andhra Pradesh Cybersecurity Summit, in partnership with Mastercard, was an important step towardsimplementing the best practices in the field of cybersecurity in the state.”

Ravi Aurora, Executive Director, Community Relations and Public Policy, Mastercard, said,“Safety and security has always been at the forefront of Mastercard’s agenda. We feel that this summit has played a pivotal role in building awareness about cybersecurity. We are thankful to the Government of Andhra Pradesh for providing us the opportunity to work together through the Andhra Pradesh Cybersecurity Summit and share learnings that help prevent digital fraud and protect businesses and individuals. We believe that this summit will go a long way towards the creation of a digitally-empowered cashless society.”

Safety and security is a fundamental building block of everything Mastercard does. The company’s network is designed to ensure that every person, every payment, and every device is protected. Mastercard uses its digital technologies and security protocols to make payments simpler, faster, and safer for both consumers and merchants. Mastercard has dedicated more than USD 1 billion to reinforce product design and multiple layers of security.